Protests erupt in US after decision to not charge chokehold cop

Protests have erupted in New York and other US cities after a white police officer was cleared in the chokehold death of an unarmed black man, a case that has drawn comparisons to the deadly police shooting in Ferguson, Missouri.

Eric Garner died as officers were attempting to arrest him for selling untaxed cigarettes on the street.

The controversy has once again cast a spotlight on police tensions with African Americans, even as the nation's president and top law enforcement official are both black.

Unlike the Missouri case, where the circumstances surrounding Michael Brown's death remain in dispute, Garner's July 17 arrest was captured on videotape and the case could have even wider repercussions, particularly because it happened in the nation's most prominent city and one with a liberal tradition.

New York City police said on Thursday that 83 people were arrested, most for disorderly conduct.

The decision on Wednesday by the grand jury in the city's Staten Island area not to indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo heightened tensions that have simmered in the city since Garner's death.

In the neighbourhood where Garner died, people reacted with angry disbelief and chanted, "I can't breathe!" and "Hands up - don't choke!"

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In Manhattan, demonstrators laid down in Grand Central Terminal, walked through traffic on the West Side Highway and blocked the Brooklyn Bridge.

But the demonstrations were largely peaceful, in contrast to the widespread arson and looting that accompanied the decision nine days earlier not to indict the white officer who shot and killed Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old.

While legal experts note it's impossible to know how the grand jurors reached their conclusion, they say the Garner case, like Brown's death, once again raises concerns about the influence local prosecutors have over the process of charging the police officers they work with on a daily basis.

US Attorney General Eric Holder says federal prosecutors will conduct their own investigation of Garner's death, while the New York Police Department also is undertaking an internal probe which could lead to administrative charges against Pantaleo, who remains on desk duty.